


the devil in the corner

by owl_system



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Drinking, Halloween, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Party, Songfic, Swearing, relationships tagged bc it's ambiguous who roman's with
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:47:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27316486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owl_system/pseuds/owl_system
Summary: when roman gets dragged to a halloween party against his will, he is prepared to spend the evening sulking in a corner. but what happens when he meets red, a mysterious stranger with no name, who flirts like it's second nature?based off the song it's almost halloween by panic! at the disco
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Sleep | Remy Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders
Kudos: 11





	the devil in the corner

“romaaaaaaaaaaan!”  
i am strong-willed. i won’t be distracted.  
“roman!”  
i won’t…  
“ro!”  
“what the fuck do you want?”  
there goes my will.

having successfully distracted me from my writing, remus punches the air. “roman. do you know what day it is?” raising an eyebrow, i glance at the calendar, though it’s still showing the dates for february three years ago, then our costumes. “easter?” remus hurls a cushion at me. “halloween, asshole.” it’s a wonder he can still surprise me. “yeah? and?” another projectile comes my way, a ball of paper this time. i straighten it out, and see a flyer advertising a halloween party. “what’s this?” even as i ask, i think i know where this is going. “we’re going,” remy tells me. “all of us, i mean.” i almost fall out of my chair. “no way, rem. why can’t we just stay here and watch films like every year?” before i even see remus and remy’s faces, i can realise how incredibly pathetic that is. maybe a party is what we need so that we don’t spend all our time in this cramped flat, watching films and saying that it’ll all kick off after whatever arbitrary milestone we’ve settled on. even if i don’t think it is, the other two clearly do. i think i have to do this. for them. “fine, i’ll go.”  
i don’t have to enjoy it.

why do i ever do things for other people?  
despite swearing not to ditch me, remy and remus split pretty quickly at the excitement of a new situation. i’m onto my third vanilla vodka-based drink, about to slip out, when i catch his eye across the room. 

lounging in the opposite corner to me is a stunning devil, dressed in my favourite colour, the exact red of the candy apples on the table. he’s the most beautiful person i’ve ever seen, with bleached hair and eyes like liquid gold. emboldened by the drinks, i pick up two deep crimson cocktails and approach him, almost stopping at the dazzling smile he shoots me. “hey,” the stranger greets with a voice like honey. “hi,” i return. “can i tempt you to a drink?” i’m not drunk enough to trip over my words, but drunk enough that i’m not anxious. as the stranger smiles wider, my heart turns a series of flips. “i would love one,” he pauses, as if trying to remember something, “roman.” trying to hide my surprise that the devil knows my name (and drunken wondering if i’ve forgotten that i told him), i smirk, passing him one drink, and ask, “do you have a name, then?” with the sort of smoothness i wish i had when talking to cute guys, the stranger takes the glass from me, grazing his fingers over mine so i shiver, and smiles… well, devilishly. “perhaps. not yet, though.” hm. cryptic. not normally a trait i look for, but something about this devil makes it work. “alright then. i’ll have to work on that one, red.” not my most creative nickname, but i’m too drunk and distracted for anything better at this point. red smiles wider, and i feel more of my heart run away from me.

several drinks and hours later, red and i have shared so much that i can hardly believe i’ve only known him for an evening, or that i’m still using a nickname. i feel as if the bright lights and claustrophobic buzz of the party have melted away, and it’s just me and red at the end of it all. everything’s beginning to wind down now, people retreating to alcoves and dark corners, but red seems to have slightly classier plans. “how would you feel about taking this somewhere else? back to yours?” 

~~~

like every day, i wake up by swearing incoherently at my alarm clock and swatting at it like a disgruntled cat from under my duvet. until, of course, i remember last night. and-  
“shit- sorry, red! did-” i stop as i throw off my covers and look around for my guest from last night.  
he’s nowhere to be seen.

“you mean he just… left?” morosely, i nod as much as i can with my head leaning on remy’s lap. we’re on the sofa in their flat, with remus sprawled upside down in the armchair opposite us. “but… he loved you, babes! i saw you two leaving, the way he was- how could he do this?” trying not to cry, i shrug. “i guess he just didn’t feel the same.”  
“do you want me to try and find him for you?” remus asks, uncharacteristically softly. “thanks, re, but-” he cuts me off. “i know loads of ways i could exact revenge.” despite how down i’m feeling, i have to laugh. “i’m not sure revenge is necessary, but thanks.”

~~~

i hold eye contact with the flyer as if the words might change, but the felt-tipped letters refuse to rearrange themselves. halloween party. the same flyer i had thrown at my head a year ago today. suddenly, the past several months’ progress doesn’t mean a thing, and it’s that desperate morning after again.   
i have to go. 

“no, i am not letting you do this.”  
definitely not what i thought remy’s reaction to a party might be. “why not?” my brother and best friend stare at me for a moment. “this red broke your heart last year,” remus points out. “we’re not letting you go back so that you can spend another year dating way too many guys just because they’ve got bleached hair.” my face flames- that’s too true for comfort. “he’s right, babe,” remy agrees. “you’ve been doing better lately. don’t let this ruin it.” they hold their hand out to take the flyer, but i refuse to give up this easily on what could be destiny. “please. all i’ve been thinking about this year is trying to find red again. if i passed up the opportunity to find him and straighten things out… i don’t think i would be able to live with myself.” a look passes between remus and remy as they figure out that i’m not being over-dramatic for once, replaced with a synchronised sigh. “fine,” remy eventually agrees. “let’s go.”

when we arrive at the house that surrounds most of my thoughts, remus looks at me, more genuine than he normally is. “you don’t have to do this,” he reminds me. “i know, but i feel like i should.” i slip out of the car, trying to compose myself, and walk in.

i see him almost immediately, lighting up the same corner he did twelve months ago. “hi.” red smirks at my approach. “a drink?” he offers, passing me a vanilla vodka and coke i swear he didn’t have a minute ago. “you remembered.” however smooth and suave he’d seemed, red hadn’t seemed like the sort of guy to remember your favourite drink after not seeing you for a year, so this nearly floors me. “of course. how could i forget anything about someone as remarkable as you?” somehow, the past year- the grief, frantically driving to any place i thought i might find him, a thousand bleach-blonde rebounds i’ve forgotten the names of- doesn’t matter any more. i’m with red, and this time, the story will play out properly. 

~~~

“morning, babe!” the universe is aligning to make this morning perfect. i texted remus and remy to stay somewhere else last night so we could be alone, made my room as neat and unembarrassing as possible, and made sure i’d wake up in a more graceful manner than last year. “last night was-”  
there’s only one thing missing.  
red.


End file.
